“Your majesty,” he blurted, taking a knee. He felt suddenly in awe, an emotion he hadn’t experience in a while. As a child he’d worshipped this man. Apparently some part of him still did.
“Rise up,” the Emperor said.
“Yes, highness.”
The Emperor just stood there for a moment, hands clasped behind his back.
“You were there,” he finally said. “Is my son dead?”
Colin considered his answer for a moment. If anyone else had asked him … But this wasn’t anyone else.
“Sire,” he said, “I do not believe so.”
Titus Mede’s eyes widened slightly and his brow relaxed, but that was his only reaction.
“And yet his body was recovered,” Administrator Vel said drily.
“A body, sir,” Colin said. “A headless body.”
“It’s said that the rebels in that area take heads,” the Emperor said. “Other heads were taken.”
“I don’t believe the Natives were responsible, majesty.”
“Why not? They’re vicious enough, and we have information, do we not, that they are supplied and funded by our ‘quiet enemies’?”
“You mean the Thalmor, majesty.”
“They are in everything, these days.”
“And yet I don’t see how killing your son advances their aims.”
“Who are you to say what their aims are?” Vel snapped. “You’ve only been an inspector for a month.”
“Yes, sir, that’s true. But my training focus was the Thalmor.”
“Which does not include—by any means—everything we know about them. Their aims are obscure.”
“I respectfully disagree, sir. I may well not be privy to many details, but their goal is clear—the pacification and purification of all of Tamriel—to bring about a new Merithic era.”
“We have an inkling of their long-term goals, Inspector, but their intermediate plans are less scrutable.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but not always. When they took Valenwood, that was pretty straightforward, and quite logical—they put the old Aldmeri Dominion back together, which makes perfect sense in terms of their ideology. Their harassment of refugees from the Summerset Isles and Valenwood also fits their broader pattern, as does what little we know of their activities in Elsweyr. But the murder of a prince—I’ve tried many ways of looking at that, and it doesn’t make sense.”
Vel started to retort to that, but the Emperor shook his head and held up his hand. Then he spoke again to Colin.
“What is your opinion? If my son is not dead, do you believe him kidnapped? And if so, by whom, and for what purpose? And why leave this trail that seems to lead to the Thalmor?”
Colin took a another deep breath, and began to lie.
“If we assume that much of the ‘evidence’ left for us was false,” he began, “then I might suggest it’s someone interested in drawing our attention to the Thalmor. A distraction to keep our eyes turned, perhaps even coax us into a fight.”
“Leyawiin?” the Emperor muttered. “They are still restless under our rule.”
“Maybe it’s not someone restless under your rule, majesty. Maybe it’s someone who would prefer someone else inherit the throne.”
“My brother?” He massaged his head. “It’s not impossible. I do not like to think it.”
“Sire,” Vel said, “your brother did not hatch this plot. He is more than adequately surveiled.”
“He is perhaps more clever than you think,” Mede replied. “But lay that aside. If we find my son, we find our enemy. So I want him found.” He frowned and stroked his upper lip. “Captain Gulan was among the dead?”
“He was,” Vel replied.
“Is there any question regarding his identity?”
“No, sire,” Vel said. “He was killed by arrowshot, and his head was not taken. Sire, I know it isn’t easy to accept, but we must consider the possibility that the body we have is that of the prince, the inspector’s opinion notwithstanding. It is the right size and shape—”
“My son had a birthmark on his right side, just where the ribs end. I have seen the corpse; that portion of it is charred while other parts are not. Like the inspector, I find that too convenient. And it does not feel like Attrebus. So—I believe him alive. Someone has him. I want him found. Inspector, is there any indication of where the attackers went?”
“They broke into smaller parties and left in different directions. But I would look south for Attrebus, your highness.”
“And why is that, Inspector?”
“Because it is the only direction in which there were no tracks whatsoever, sire.”
The Emperor grunted and nodded. “Inspector, Intendant, Administrator,” he said, addressing the three, and left.
Vel waited a moment and followed him, shooting Colin an unpleasant look.
“That wasn’t the brightest thing you could have done,” Marall said.
“The Emperor asked my opinion,” Colin said. “Isn’t it my duty to give it?”
Marall sighed. “The Emperor doesn’t care if you get assigned to sewer cases for the rest of your life—or worse, sent to spy on Nords. It’s better if these things go up the chain of command. Now, Vel appears to be less well-informed than his most junior inspector.”
“I fully intended to follow that chain,” Colin said. “I came here believing Administrator Vel was going to hear my report. It isn’t my fault that the Emperor was present.”
Marall nodded. “You’re right, of course. It’s just your inexperience showing. You shouldn’t have so bluntly disagreed with a superior. There are more subtle ways to go about things.”
How subtle is a knife? Colin angrily thought, but then pushed that away.
“I’m still learning, sir.”
“If Attrebus is alive, and they find him on your counsel, you will gain the Emperor’s favor, and that will be a good thing for you. But if they do not find him, or if that body is him, then the Emperor will not think of you again. I advise you to keep as quiet as possible now, and find some way to come to Vel’s attention in a more positive way.”
“In that case,” Colin said, “I wonder if I could be reassigned?”